Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohiogirl
sure would be nice if part of the FDA label on food included the glycemic index, instead of just the carb count. I've been looking online, but the same item (unless it's a raw veg or fruit) varies a lot depending on which index you use.
Amazingly, found out that the glycemic index Uncle Ben's Converted rice is around the same (maybe even a little less) than brown rice. Still not something you will eat unlimited amounts of. Hope this is true. Brown rice has a gram of fiber, though, and UB's has 0.
I think Freeda had a post a while back explaining the glycemic index a lot better than I can.
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I am in a bit of a rush b/c assisting my daughter in Louisville with a medical treatment today; but the problem with all carbs (even many of the healthy-sounding ones, like containing 'whole grain', etc) is that unless they are low-glycemic (below 55 on the glycemic index) or at most moderate-glycemic, the body converts them quickly into sugar - glucose - and so they spike the blood sugar just the same (and sometimes even more) as if they had actually 'sugar' (sucrose) as an ingredient. That is the problem with food labeling; the sugar content labelling is not all that helpful at best and is misleading at worst. Glycemicindex.com is a good place to start in understanding this.
This issue, which is the current trend in nutritional science, yet still poorly understood/not taught to our physicians, nutritionists and other healthcare providers (if it were, we wouldn't see the fast food places and vending machines full of snack crackers in our hospitals ; but I digress) is one of the biggest reasons for the weight problems/type II diabetes epidemic in the western-diet world, and is one of the reason type II diabetics following standard advice tend to stay type-II diabetics. Most cereals (but not all - some bran cereals, for example, are not) are high-glycemic and spike the blood sugar unnaturally
regardless of what the label says as to the 'sugar' level per serving.
Not surprisingingly the food industry opposes the FDA requiring glycemic-index labelling on food products.